Let’s face it, we are all in this business to make money. Ecommerce business owners have to be more efficient in order to increase profits and keep prices competitive, due to rising costs. It’s easy to concentrate on increasing revenue. However, that’s only half the equation. Streamlining your processes and reducing costs is the other half. We’ll be covering some of the best money-saving strategies for ecommerce shops.
1. Concentrate on Customer Retention
It costs five times more to acquire a customer than it does keep one. This means that customer retention should be a priority through customer service and communications. This includes being available for questions and answering any queries.
Keep customers interested by engaging with you via social media and sending them emails. This is a bonus: as customers become loyal, they will share your business with their networks. This is the best and most cost-effective way to bring new business to your store.
2. Make use of Coupons and Discounts wisely
Online shoppers expect coupons. Over 90% of U.S. online shoppers search for discounts before purchasing online. This pressure makes it even more crucial to offer discounts and coupons in a strategic way.
Start by defining your goals for your campaign. Then, determine how deep and which products the discount applies to. You should also closely monitor how it affects your profit margins. Don’t create discounts arbitrarily. If the campaign is popular, you could lose more money.
3. Offering Popular Payment Options
As your order volume increases, payment processing fees can become more expensive. It is best to offer several payment options to customers. However, it is important to identify the most popular methods of payment with customers.
To save money on monthly processing fees, you might consider removing a payment option that isn’t used often, such as Google Pay or Discover. Online shoppers often have multiple credit and debit cards, so it shouldn’t impact the customer experience.
4. Learn How to Prevent and Fight Chargebacks
If a customer contests a charge to their card, and wins, they are required to pay a fee. This can range from $20 to $100 per instance. Although some chargebacks are legitimate, there are many scammers who will try to take advantage.
You can prevent chargebacks from ever happening and learn how to combat them once they do. To help avoid chargebacks, you can set customer expectations by clearly presenting products on your website. Document everything to prevent chargebacks. Many customers claim that they have never ordered or received a product. You can avoid paying the fee by keeping the confirmation numbers for shipping shipments and order confirmations.
5. The First Time You Make Adequate Investments
Your ecommerce website can be expensive, whether it is for web design, development, marketing, or both. Many business owners seek out cheaper alternatives such as hiring an international SEO company or contacting a Craigslist web designer. These options may seem more cost-effective in the short-term, but you might soon discover that you do get what you pay. Do your research to identify trusted vendors and not just look for the lowest cost way to improve your business. It is cheaper and less frustrating to do things correctly the first time than to have them redone later.
It is also important to ensure that you are getting the value for your money. This includes cutting unnecessary costs and investing in things that will make a difference. You can reduce your monthly website maintenance costs if you discover that you are paying for services that you do not need or that could be obtained cheaper elsewhere. Even a slight reduction in monthly expenses can result in significant savings. So review your current costs and assess if they are worth it.
6. Streamline your Shipping Process
Shipping costs are often the most expensive aspect of owning an online shop, but they are not uncommon. Look at the current shipping providers. Do you offer FedEx, UPS and USPS? You don’t necessarily need to offer them all. Flat rate shipping is more cost-effective for you than live rate shipping. Calculate what your customers want and you can determine the best shipping mix to save money.
Many ecommerce merchants are afraid to speak with someone and pay higher shipping costs than they should. Many of the major shipping providers offer shipping services for small businesses. Some even have dedicated specialists who can help you reduce shipping costs. These tools can help you save money wherever it matters.
7. Identify and Enhance Effective Marketing Channels
Online marketing is costly. Online advertising spending is expected to reach $50 billion in 2015. You can save money by using web analytics to determine which marketing channels are most effective.
You can use your web analytics tool for this purpose. It will show you where visitors are coming from and what they do once they reach your site. If you spend a lot of money on one PPC campaign, but the traffic doesn’t convert, it is possible to optimize your marketing budget by eliminating or optimizing that campaign. This is how you can focus your marketing efforts on the things that work.
In conclusion
It takes more than just finding new ways of making money online. Saving wherever you can is also important. These are some tips to keep in mind as you look for ways to save money that can be rolled over to your bank account.
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By: Volusion Staff
Title: 7 Ways Ecommerce Businesses Can Save Money
Sourced From: www.volusion.com/blog/ways-ecommerce-businesses-can-save-money/
Published Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2022 15:05:00 GMT
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